Push-button switch

ABSTRACT

The switch has a body containing a rotary disc, restrained from axial movement, with dog-teeth on one face and hollows of alternating depth on the other face. A fluid-tight push-button on the side of the body rotates the disc step-by-step by means of a hinged oscillating lever bearing a pawl cooperating with the dogteeth. A piston plunger is elastically slidable in a bore to cooperate with the hollows at one end and with electrical contact studs at the other end. The disc and other members have a central cavity enabling the passage of a mechanical part, light-beam or a fluid in sealed manner through the switch. The switch can be easily positioned in the tubular casing of an electric motor and axially adjacent to the motor without increasing the diameter of the casing.

United States Patent Baruffa [4 1 Sept. 12,1972

[54] PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] In en Olindo a avenue du 1,046,772 10/1966 Great Britain ..200/l53L Lignon, Aire-Geneva, Switzerland Primary Examiner-Robert k. Schaefer [22] Flled' 1971 Assistant Examiner-Robert A. Vanderhye [211 App]. No.: 106,338 Attorney-Pennie, Edmonds, Morton, Taylor &

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data ABSTRACT Jan. 15, i970 Switzerland ..525/70 The Switch a y containing a rotary disc, restrained from axial movement, with dog-teeth on E i's h d fig gg one face and hollows of alternating depth on the other [58] Field 6 153 J L 168 face. A fluid-tight push-button on the side of the body 74/88 rotates the disc step-by-step by means of a hinged oscillating lever bearing a pawl cooperating with the dog-teeth. A piston plunger is elastically slidable in a [56] References cued bow to cooperate with the hollows at one end and UNITED STATES PATENTS with electrical contact studs at the other end. The disc and other members have a central cavity enabling the 3,181,188 5/1965 Moret ..200/ 156 UX passage of a mechanical part light beam or a fluid in 2541643 2/1951 qpsfnberre t 31200, 153 LX sealed manner through the switch. The switch can be 3,104,299 9/1963 F F 0 easily positioned in the tubular casing of an electric 3,363,078 1/1968 ishizaki ..200/l68 G motor and axially adjacent to the motor without creasing the diameter of the casing. 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures l l V v I k 3 25 27 22,10 1

1// //,h\ I I 6 5 Y Adams PATENTED 1 2 I973 3.691. 334

INVENTOR Olindo Boruffo V ATTORNEYS I PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH The present invention relates to a push-button switch comprising a body containing a rotary disc having, on one hand, dog-teeth and, on the other hand, two series of reliefs of different heights, cooperating with at least one electrical contact, the push-button cooperating with said dog-teeth.

In certain equipment, specially of oblong shape and of small diameter, the position in which it is desired to place the switch must remain free to enable the passage, for example, of a mechanical part, of a luminous pencil, of a fluid or the like. In such apparatus, it is not generally possible to place a switch in position without providing an increase in the outer diameter of the apparatus.

It is an object of the invention to enable the placing of a switch in such a position whilst leaving a free passage.

The switch according the invention is characterized in that the disc has a central cavity constituting a portion of an axial passage passing through the body of the switch from one side to the other.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, one embodiment of a switch according to the invention is described below, purely by way of illustrative but non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a switch according to the invention, viewed in axial cross-section through the control button;

FIG. 2 shows an axial cross-section in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section along the line III-Ill of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section along the line IVIV of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section along the line V-V of FIG. 2.

The switch shown in the accompanying drawing is intended more particularly for actuating the connection of an electric motor arranged in a tubular body of which this switch constitutes an extension in the direction of the axis of the motor.

This switch comprises a body constituted by a part 1 of insulating material in the general shape of a sleeve, this sleeve being intended to extend the placing of the electric motor which adjoins it. This switch is of the type comprising a rotary commutating device with a ratchet-wheel drive. This device comprises a disc 2 arranged in one of the ends of the sleeve-shaped body. On one of its faces, this rotary disc 2 has a series of dogteeth 3. On the other face, this disc 2 has two series of hollows 4 and 5 respectively, of different depths, these two series of hollows being intercalated with one another at the same distance from the axis of rotation of the disc 2.

A cover 6 encloses the end of the part 1 in which the disc 2 is housed. Inside this cover 6 is arranged a lever 7 in the general shape of a ring. This lever 7 is capable of oscillating on an axle 8 borne by the cover 6. On the side of this ring 7 opposite its axle of oscillation 8 is arranged a hole 9 inside of which a finger 10 is slidable axially and parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc 2. This finger 10 is subject to the action of a spring 11 tending to push it against the ring of dog-teeth 3 of the disc 2. This spring 11 is embedded in a channel12 arranged in the ring-shaped lever 7. This lever 7 has also a boss 13 against which is intended to be supported the inner end 14 of a push-button 15 constituted of elastically deformable flexible material such as rubber or plastics material of the same type. A spring 16 arranged on a pin 17 rigidly fixed to the cover 6 tends to push back this ring 7 against the part 14 of the push-button 15. This ring-shaped lever 7 is capable therefore of being displaced in an oscillating movement around the axle 8 which is parallel to the axis of the disc 2 by means of the push-button 15 and this against the action of the return spring 16.

The generally sleeve-shaped part 1 has an annular groove 18 at its end opposite that receiving the disc 2. A pair of conductor strips 19 is fixed in this annular groove 18 by means of an insulating support 20 engaged inside this groove 18. The free ends 21 of these strips 19 constitutes the contact studs of the switch. These ends 21 are intended to be placed in electrical contact with one another through a push-rod 22 actuated by the disc 2. In fact, in the generally sleeveshaped part 1 is arranged a bore 23 with axis parallel to the axis of the part 1. In this bore 23 a piston plunger 24 is slidable against the action of elastic means constituted, in the example shown, by an elastic washer 25. The head 26 of this piston plunger 24 is intended to be engaged successively in the hollows 4 and 5 arranged in one of the faces of disc 2, this in the course of step-bystep rotation of the disc 2 by means of a pawl 10, of the lever 7 and of the push-button 15. This piston plunger 24 is extended by a rod 27 acting on the push-rod 22.

The operation of the above-described switch is as follows:

On each push exerted against the elastic push-button 15 by means of the thumb for example, the latter causes a displacement of the ring-shaped lever 7 in anti-clockwise direction, with respect to FIG. 3, in the course of which displacement the pawl formed by the finger 10, in cooperation with the dog-toothed member 3, drives the disc 2 through an angular movement corresponding to the separation of two neighboring teeth of the dog-toothed member 3. The disc 2 is held in stable angular position by engagement of the head 26 of the piston 24 in one of the hollows 4, 5 respectively. Each time that the head 26 comes to be in a deeper hollow 4, the contact of the strips 19 is closed, the pushrod 22 connecting the two ends 21 of the strips 19 under the action of its return spring 28. On the other hand, when the head 26 of the piston 24 is in a shallower hollow 5, the push-rod 22 is separated from the ends 21 and the contact is interrupted.

The operation of such a switch is very precise due to the fact of the perfect guidance of the disc 2 and of the annular lever 7 arranged parallel to the said disc 2.

It is apparent that the construction described enables a switch which is impervious to water and even to gas to be easily produced. In fact, the push-button 15 can be fixed in fluid-tight manner to the cover 6 and the washer 25 enables fluid-tightness to be ensured between the piston plunger 24 and the bore 23.

Numerous other embodiments of this switch according to the invention could be conceived. Thus, the lever 7, instead of being annular shape, could be of any shape, for example T-shaped, the principal bar of the T connecting the axle 8 to the finger 10, whilst the central bar ends at the boss 13. Similarly, the pawl, instead of being formed by finger 10, could be constituted by an oscillation pawl of conventional construction.

It is self-evident that the switch could have several electrical contact studs operating simultaneously or in staggered manner.

Other variations and modifications of the abovedescribed embodiments are possible whilst retaining the essential inventive concept and are to be regarded as embodying the invention as defined in scope by the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A push-button switch comprising a. a housing,

b. a disc rotatably mounted in said housing and restrained from axial movement,

c. said disc having ratchet teeth on one face thereof and on the other face thereof two series of hollows alternating in depth,

. an axial passage through said disc,

e. a ratchet member mounted in said housing on the toothed side of said disc for movement transversely of said axial passage and having an inner boundary shaped to clear said axial passage,

f. said ratchet member including pawl means for engaging the ratchet teeth of said disc for step-bystep movement thereof,

g. a push-button mounted on said housing for actuating said ratchet member in one direction and resilient means for biasing the ratchet member in the opposite direction,

h. switch contact members mounted in said housing on said other face side of the disc and radially spaced from said axial passage,

i. and plunger means actuated by said series of hollows in the disc for actuating at least one of said switch contact members.

2. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said ratchet member is a lever pivoted on one side of said axial passage for movement parallel to said disc and said pawl means is located on the other side of the axial passage, and said push-button is positioned to engage said lever intermediate the lever pivot and the pawl means.

3. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said lever encircles said axial passage.

4. A push-button switch according to claim 2 in which said pawl means includes a pin mounted in said lever for movement parallel to the axis of rotation of said disc and spring biased toward the ratchet teeth of the disc.

5. A pushbutton switch according to claim 1 in which said plunger means includes a rod and an enlarged head at the end of the rod toward said disc cooperating with said hollows in the disc, a bore in said housing parallel to said axial passage for slidably mounting said head, and means for resiliently biasing said head toward said disc.

6. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said housing is of insulating material with an axial bore therein in alignment with said axial passage through said disc, said ratchet member is a lever pivoted in one side of said axial passage for movement arallel 0 said disc and said awl mea s includes a in hiounted in said lever on t e other s ide of the aiiial passage for movement parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc and spring biased against the ratchet teeth of the disc, said push-button is positioned to engage the lever intermediate the lever pivot and said pin, and said plunger means includes a rod for actuating at least one of said'switch contact members and an enlarged head at the end of the rod toward said disc cooperating with said hollows in the disc, a bore in said housing parallel to said axial passage for slidably mounting said head, and means for resiliently biasing said head toward said discu 7. A push-button switch according to claim 6 in which said switch contact members are mounted in an annular chamber of said housing with an opening therein through which the rod of said plunger means passes, and a washer of elastic material between said rod and the encircling bore for insuring fluid-tightness therebetween.

Patent No. 3,691,334 Dated September 12 1972 lnvcntor( Olindo BARUFFA It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Title Page, after Item [72] insert:

-- [73] Assignee: Etablissement AESUP Vaduz, Liechtenstein Column 1, line 9, for "specially" read especially Column 1, line 20, after "according" insert to Column 2, line 20, for "constitutes" read constitute Column 2, line 67, after "being" insert of Signed and sealed this 6th day of February 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Commissioner of Patents EDWARD M.,FLETCHER,JR. Attesting Officer 

1. A push-button switch comprising a. a housing, b. a disc rotatably mounted in said housing and restrained from axial movement, c. said disc having ratchet teeth on one face thereof and on the other face thereof two series of hollows alternating in depth, d. an axial passage through said disc, e. a ratchet member mounted in said housing on the toothed side of said disc for movement transversely of said axial passage and having an inner boundary shaped to clear said axial passage, f. said ratchet member including pawl means for engaging the ratchet teeth of said disc for step-by-step movement thereof, g. a push-button mounted on said housing for actuating said ratchet member in one direction and resilient means for biasing the ratchet member in the opposite direction, h. switch contact members mounted in said housing on said other face side of the disc and radially spaced from said axial passage, i. and plunger means actuated by said series of hollows in the disc for actuating at least one of said switch contact members.
 2. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said ratchet member is a lever pivoted on one side of said axial passage for movement parallel to said disc and said pawl means is located on the other side of the axial passage, and said push-button is positioned to engage said lever intermediate the lever pivot and the pawl means.
 3. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said lever encircles said axial passage.
 4. A push-button switch according to claim 2 in which said pawl means includes a pin mounted in said lever for movement parallel to the axis of rotation of said disc and spring biased toward the ratchet teeth of the disc.
 5. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said plunger means includes a rod and an enlarged head at the end of the rod toward said disc cooperating with said hollows in the disc, a bore in said housing parallel to said axial passage for slidably mounting said head, and means for resiliently biasing said head toward said disc.
 6. A push-button switch according to claim 1 in which said housing is of insulating material with an axial bore therein in alignment with said axial passage through said disc, said ratchet member is a lever pivoted in one side of said axial passage for movement parallel to said disc and said pawl means includes a pin mounted in said lever on the other side of the axial passage for movement parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc and spring biased against the ratchet teeth of the disc, said push-button is positioned to engage the lever intermediate the lever pivot and said pin, and said plunger means includes a rod for actuating at least one of said switch contact members and an enlarged head at the end of the rod toward said disc cooperating with said hollows in the disc, a bore in said housing parallel to said axial passage for slidably mounting said head, and means for resiliently biasing said head toward said disc.
 7. A push-button switch according to claim 6 in which said switch contact members are mounted in an annular chamber of said housing with an opening therein through which the rod of said plunger means passes, and a washer of elastic material between said rod and the encircling bore for insuring fluid-tightness therebetween. 